(For a Reuters live blog on U.S., UK and European stock

markets, click or type LIVE/ in a news window.)

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March nonfarm payrolls data due at 8:30 a.m. ET

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All three indexes set for weekly losses

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Futures up: Dow 0.17%, S&P 0.27%, Nasdaq 0.33%

(Updated at 7:25 a.m. ET/ 1125 GMT)

By Shristi Achar A and Shashwat Chauhan

April 5 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures gained on

Friday, a day after equities slumped on hawkish remarks from

Federal Reserve officials, while investors braced for a key jobs

report that could help shape the monetary policy outlook.

All three major stock indexes closed more than 1% lower in

the last session after comments from Fed officials sparked a

broader market selloff.

Minneapolis Fed Bank President Neel Kashkari said while he

had penciled in two rate cuts for this year at the U.S. central

bank's meeting last month, none may be required if inflation

continues to elude the Fed's target.

The CBOE Volatility index, also known as Wall

Street's 'fear gauge', closed at its highest since November in

the previous session and was last up 0.26 points at 16.62.

Money markets, however, are still pricing in about a 61%

chance of at least a 25 basis point rate cut from the central

bank in June, according to the CME FedWatch tool.

The market focus is now on the nonfarm payrolls report for

March, due at 8:30 a.m. ET, which is expected to offer a clear

indication of where the labor market stands and help shape

investor bets' on rate cuts.

Economists polled by Reuters anticipate a rise of 200,000

jobs in the United States, compared with 275,000 in February,

while the unemployment rate will likely remain steady at 3.9%.

"The narrative around the potential for interest rate cuts

has been slightly contradictory this week, so there's a lot

resting on this data to help steady the ship," Sophie

Lund-Yates, lead equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown wrote in

a note.

"A looser labor market could help back the argument that the

economy is returning to more stable footing."

Investors would also look for more clues on the monetary

policy in comments from Fed Governor Michelle Bowman, Dallas Fed

President Lorie Logan and Richmond Fed President Thomas Barkin,

scheduled to speak during the day.

Mounting tensions in the Middle East, with oil prices

extending their gains amid supply disruption concerns, is

another area of concern for the markets.

A slew of mixed economic data during the week, such as the

soft services activity report, the stronger manufacturing report

and comments from policymakers have pressured equities, with all

three indexes heading for weekly losses.

At 7:25 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were up 68 points, or

0.17%, S&P 500 e-minis were up 14.25 points, or 0.27%,

and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 59 points, or 0.33%.

Most megacap growth stocks edged up in premarket trading,

with Tesla, Nvidia ( NVDA ) and Amazon.com ( AMZN ) up

between 0.5% and 0.6%.

Krispy Kreme gained 5.2% in premarket trading after

Piper Sandler upgraded the doughnut chain to "overweight" from

"neutral".

Chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices rose 1.1%,

recouping some losses after shedding over 8% on Thursday. The

Philadelphia Semiconductor Index fell about 3% in the

last session.

Shockwave Medical ( SWAV ) gained 1.3% after Johnson &

Johnson ( JNJ ) agreed to buy the medical device maker for $12.5

billion.